Birthdays & Occasions

Birthdays & Occasions

Blackfriars offers an exciting range of party ideas for small groups of six to larger parties of up to 50 people. What better way to have fun and learn a new skill with friends and family!? Below are some ideas of what we offer:

Cocktail Making: Parlour Bar, Cookery School or Tasting Room
Learn how to make amazing cocktails from the experts and then drink them afterwards!
Prices start from £26pp and include a glass of fizz on arrival and cocktails for up to 6-14 guests. Duration 1½-2 hrs. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90pp.

Canapé Making: Cookery School

Canapé making enables you to get really creative making delicious bite-sized morsels for any occasion. Prices start from £39 per person which includes coffee/tea on arrival, all ingredients, a senior chef to facilitate and judge your end results. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90pp. Duration 3 hours. 6-12 people.

Pizza and Prosecco Nights: Cookery School

Relax and have fun at your own convivial pizza-making social! Our master baker will show you just how easy it is to make blisteringly good home-made sourdough flatbreads and pizzas full of tasty artisan toppings, both super savoury and decadently sweet. £39 for a glass or two of Prosecco, pizza masterclass and about as much as you can eat/£19 for kids. 6-20 people. Duration 3hrs.

Gin O'Clock - a tasting of gins: Tasting Room

Gin and tonic has become the aperitif of choice in recent years. Hundreds of new distilleries are opening every year with us Brits are now drinking over 30 million litres of the stuff every year. And it seems we just can’t get enough of this delightful juniper-flavoured spirit. So join us for a gin masterclass and learn a little bit more about your favourite tipple! Prices start from £26 including a palate-cleansing fizz on arrival and 4 totally different gins - some neat and some with a choice of tonic plus some home-made sourdough or biscuits. You can also add a 3 course set meal (including 10% discount) for just £18.90. 6-8pm (or 1½-2 hours if a private tasting).

Sherry Masterclass: Tasting Room
Sherry is so uber-cool and hip these days and Manzanilla super-dry fino is now the aperitif of choice amongst discerning London sommeliers. Enjoy a masterclass of the very best fortified Spanish wines on this earth. Prices start from £39 including 6 very different sherries plus some home-made sourdough or biscuits. You can also add a 3 course set meal (including 10% discount) for just £18.90. 6-9pm

Ready Steady Cook: Cookery School

This remains one of our most popular cookery classes and challenges. Teams make a gastronomic feast with a bag of mystery ingredients and the best team wins! We can accommodate all dietary preferences and needs. Prices start from £39pp which includes coffee/tea on arrival, all the ingredients, a senior chef to facilitate and judge your end results plus a bottle of fizz for the winning team! 8-20 people. Duration 3 hours.

Beat the chef: Cookery School
This popular workshop challenges teams to make a gastronomic feast better than our workshop chef’s own solo creation! And you get to choose the bag of ingredients in this high-pressure, high-stakes, yet hilarious workshop! We can accommodate all dietary preferences and needs. Prices start from £39pp and include coffee/tea on arrival all food produce, a competing senior chef plus a bottle of fizz - but only if you win! Duration 1½-3hrs - depending on time constraints. 8-20 guests.

Chef's Table: Cookery School
Our Cookery School also offers bespoke private dining – enjoy one of our top chef preparing, cooking and serving a beautiful multi-course dinner right in front of you whilst talking through all the tricks of the trade. Prices can be tailored towards your budget and can include an amuse buche, fresh sourdough and 3 delicious courses. We can also match wines with your meal. A minimum spend for private hire of the Cookery school will apply. All food and beverage consumption goes toweards meeting this figure. 6-12 guests welcome – this is perfect for serious foodies and those who like a bit of dining theatre!

Wine & Cheese Matching: Tasting Room
Wine & cheese go together like fish & chips! Join us for an evening of top-drawer cheeses with fabulous wines, all perfectly paired. Prices start from £29pp including a glass of fizz on arrival followed by 5 wine and cheese matches. 8-36 guests welcome and can be tailored to suit all tastes. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90pp. 6-8pm.

Whey Ale Man - A tasting of local beers: Tasting Room
Interested in local beers and ales and not be aware of the wealth of brewing talent we have right here on our doorstep? Enjoy a tasting of some of the region's best beers and learn a few secrets of the trade. Prices from £26pp including 6 samples of beer. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90 pp. 8-30 people. 6-8pm.

Come Wine with Me: A beginners' guide to wine tasting: Tasting Room
Join us for an evening of wine discovery with a selection of top-notch wine handpicked by our own sommelier. Learn how to decipher confusing labels as well as the wine’s appearance, a few secrets of the nose (aroma) and its all-important taste. Prices from £26pp inc a glass of fizz on arrival, 6 sample wines plus homemade sough-dough and biscuits. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90pp. 8-30 people. 6-8pm.

Exploring the restaurant wine list: Tasting Room
Do you often stick with the same old wine in a restaurant worried you may not enjoy an interesting looking yet unfamiliar wine? Join us for an evening of tutored experimentation as we visit all corners of the wine list and sample your new best discoveries along the way. Prices from £26pp inc a glass of fizz on arrival, 6 sample wines plus homemade sough-dough and biscuits. You'll also have the opportunity to enjoy 10% off a 3-course set meal afterwards for £18.90pp. 8-30 people. 6-8pm.

The Water of Life – An introduction to Whisky: Tasting Room
The ‘Water of Life’ was the name given to whisky by monks in the middle ages but this introduction to Scotland’s famous export is bang up-to-date. Enjoy a selection of whiskies from both Robert the Bruce’s homeland as well as a few curveballs from far-flung distilleries around the world. Learn how to decipher a label to give you a better understanding of what’s inside the bottle, the basics of how whisky is made, Scotland’s main regions, its fascinating history and of course why your wee dram tastes the way it does! Prices from £26 including a small beer on arrival and 6 samples of the golden nectar plus some home-made sourdough or biscuits. You can also add a 3 course set meal (including 10% discount) for just £18.90. 8-30 people. 6-8pm

Chef & Sommelier – Food & Drink Matching: Cookery School
Contrary to popular belief, food & drink matching is not the preserve of the elite, we all do it every day! Lager & curry, coffee & chocolate, tea with fish & chips, port & cheese and even milk on your cornflakes - many food & drinks combos are perfectly matched. Enjoy a masterclass on the subject and an intricate 6-course tasting menu together with sublime drinks carefully selected & presented by our own sommelier starting with a decadent glass of Champagne. Prices start from £69pp depending on the menu & accompanying drinks. 8-12 people. Duration - 3 hours.

Medieval Banquets: Banquet Hall
Enjoy your own medieval banquet in our spectacular Banquet Hall used by kings and nobles from years gone by. We offer costumed staff and the choice of a themed 3-course meal for £32 and five-course banquet from £49pp. Entertainment can also be arranged for you. 12-50 guests required.

Private dining: Cookery School/Banquet Hall

As well as our 50-seater Medieval Banquet Hall which offers medieval banquets for corporate and private functions, we also have an ornate Cookery School dining table which seats 14 and is perfect for more intimate private dining. What’s more, you’ll have your own chef to accommodate all your dining needs as well as staff to pour wine and generally pamper and take care of you! Our private dining menus are from £27.50pp. Banquet Hall capacity; 12-50 guests.

Children's birthday parties: Cookery School
Last but not least, we hold Children's birthday parties during evenings and weekends for 6-10 children from ages 7+. They're lots of fun and our Cookery School manager Adam is also a balloonist so they'll go home not only with food for their goodie bags but a fancy balloon as well!

Celebration cakes
Need a birthday or celebration cake? No problem Our pastry chefs make amazing cakes if you need us to organise that too! Please give us around 2 weeks notice.

To find out how we can help you to create a memorable event email us or phone 0191 261 5945.